POTA Activation Today A Bit Frustrating At First But Worked Out

[WSHL413]

Hi All,

Today I activated US-3412 California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside, California.

I use inverted-V wire dipole antennas, one tuned for each band (10, 15, and 20). Today I started with 10m. Absolute crickets. Perhaps one station on the entire 28.300 to 28.500 frequency range.I selected a frequency, not in use, called CQ a number of times. Nothing. I thought a problem with my antenna or feed line, but the NanoVNA confirmed a beautiful SWR curve.

Then I switched to 20M. Lots of activity. Took three tries to locate a free frequency and I was able to make a dozen contacts and successfully activate the park.

Later I heard solar activity was causing major issues with the HF bands.

Did anyone else experience something like this today?

 

[TNFrank]

I actually had a pretty decent day and Hunted 4 POTA stations and made 2 other QSO's. I saw a couple stations in California but didn't hear anything here in Arizona. The skip was probably sending the signal right over me. 

[WSHL413]

2 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I actually had a pretty decent day and Hunted 4 POTA stations and made 2 other QSO's. I saw a couple stations in California but didn't hear anything here in Arizona. The skip was probably sending the signal right over me. 

Nice job!

Yeah I've noticed that behavior on 10M. Sometimes I can hear stations in CA and AZ but mostly the skip for me is midwest and further east. Frequently OR, WA and BC are accessible, more on 20M than 10M. I haven't spent a lot of time on 15M and other HF bands but plan to do so soon.

I'm still amazed a simple wire dipole, sagging or not, can work all over North America and beyond!

[TNFrank]

I have an inverted V, 12 gauge wire cut for 10M and an EFHW 14 gauge wire that's cut for 10M 1/2 wave using the measurements from a web site calculator and both come in with an SWR around 2:1 +/- 0.2 so they're close enough for government work. I also measured the power output of the QT80 on USB and it was 78w but I did see it peak into the low 90's. Not bad for an 80w mobile radio being used as a base station.

I plan on hitting 10M SSB again tomorrow to do some Hunting.  Hopefully the incoming CME won't play too much havoc on HF.

I'll keep an eye out for California POTA activation to see if I can hear them, maybe we'll make a QSO.

73 

[WRQC527]

54 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

an SWR around 2:1 +/- 0.2

Even though conventional wisdom says anything under 2:1 is acceptable, you're saying it is as high as 2.3:1. You may need a choke of some sort, in addition to fine-tuning the dipole wire lengths using some kind of measuring device like an SWR meter, an antenna analyzer, or a NanoVNA instead of relying only on a formula that may only get you close. Depending on your source of information, inverted V elements need to be either shorter or longer by several inches than a horizontal dipole. Either way, a measuring device is needed to dial it in.

1 hour ago, TNFrank said:

Hopefully the incoming CME won't play too much havoc on HF.

It's killing the bands. 

[TNFrank]

High was 2.18 at 28.5MHz and low was 1.89 at 28.3MHz.  I think it'll be ok for now, I may try and trim it a bit later but for now it's close enough to use.

[Northcutt114]

9 hours ago, WSHL413 said:

Hi All,

Today I activated US-3412 California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside, California.

I use inverted-V wire dipole antennas, one tuned for each band (10, 15, and 20). Today I started with 10m. Absolute crickets. Perhaps one station on the entire 28.300 to 28.500 frequency range.I selected a frequency, not in use, called CQ a number of times. Nothing. I thought a problem with my antenna or feed line, but the NanoVNA confirmed a beautiful SWR curve.

Then I switched to 20M. Lots of activity. Took three tries to locate a free frequency and I was able to make a dozen contacts and successfully activate the park.

Later I heard solar activity was causing major issues with the HF bands.

Did anyone else experience something like this today?

 

This has been my experience, too. 20m seems to be where the majority of POTA people are...and yes, the largest solar flare in 20 years happened the other night. HF bands will be cooked for the next day or so.

Congratulations on activating a park!

 

[WRYZ926]

Even 20m and 40m bands are bad this morning.

[Northcutt114]

1 hour ago, WRYZ926 said:

Even 20m and 40m bands are bad this morning.

Right before Winter Field Day, too.

Which, as a new Ham, I don't know that I understand all that well. Given that I only operate outside, I guess every day is Field Day for me.

 

[WSHL413]

11 hours ago, WRQC527 said:

Even though conventional wisdom says anything under 2:1 is acceptable, you're saying it is as high as 2.3:1. You may need a choke of some sort, in addition to fine-tuning the dipole wire lengths using some kind of measuring device like an SWR meter, an antenna analyzer, or a NanoVNA instead of relying only on a formula that may only get you close. Depending on your source of information, inverted V elements need to be either shorter or longer by several inches than a horizontal dipole. Either way, a measuring device is needed to dial it in.

Good points. My understanding is a dipole should have a 1:1 balun at the feed point to choke common-mode current. One can purchase a commercial choke or make one with 12 to 14 turns of RG8X coax wrapped around a FT240-43 toroid. That's what I use. Measured with a NanoVNA, the attenuation is -25dB and greater across the entire 3 to 30 MHz spectrum. I've read this is generally sufficient for this type of choke.

With a wire dipole, the 468/f is a general guide. I usually cut the wire 12 inches longer, then cut some of the excess length when testing in place. Some excess is wrapped back at each end insulator for fine-tuning in the field. My 20M wire dipole shows an SWR of 1.5:1 or less across the band, with the sweet spot (is that a technical term? LOL) less than 1.1:1 around 14.230 MHz since I operate SSB. During yesterday's POTA activation I measured the sweet spot at 1.04:1. Pretty good.

Antennas are really fun to work with and I've only scratched the surface with the various kinds. Have yet to explore verticals and antennas for VHF/UHF. Always something new to learn in this hobby!

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

Even 20m and 40m bands are bad this morning.

Yeah, I’m hearing one guy from California on 7.137. He’s pretty clear but I bet he’s amplified. I hear none of the people he’s talking to. 
Noise floor is between s2 and s3 and his audio is about s5.  But his audio quality is good, I’d say about a 4, so he’s 4x5. 
According to QRZ he’s 658.4 miles away from me. 

[WRQC527]

3 hours ago, WSHL413 said:

RG8X coax wrapped around a FT240-43 toroid

My dipoles (2 hamsticks on an MFJ-347 mount) and verticals (POTA PERformer) generally behave better with this setup. 

[TNFrank]

10M doesn't seem to be all that bad here in AZ. I made a QSO with a guy in Venezuela, a Club Call in South Carolina and one in Boston, MA.  I also got another POTA QSO to get my 30.  

[WSHL413]

2 hours ago, WRQC527 said:

My dipoles (2 hamsticks on an MFJ-347 mount) and verticals (POTA PERformer) generally behave better with this setup. 

Roger that. Making these chokes out of a toroid and coax is easy-peasy and they do the job.

I use hamstick dipoles too, a 10M and 20M on a chimney roof mast (pic on my QRZ profile under call sign KO6IOJ). The mounts are Opek brand. It's a rental house so the antenna has to be removable and non-intrusive. (We are moving in April so it will come down soon.)

Can you tell me more about your station setup? What bands for the hamstick dipole, and what do you think about the POTA Performer antenna?

[WSHL413]

26 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

10M doesn't seem to be all that bad here in AZ. I made a QSO with a guy in Venezuela, a Club Call in South Carolina and one in Boston, MA.  I also got another POTA QSO to get my 30.  

Way to go!

10M here in So Cal is crackly but I'm hearing other stations.

[WRQC527]

3 hours ago, WSHL413 said:

Can you tell me more about your station setup? What bands for the hamstick dipole, and what do you think about the POTA Performer antenna?

I have a Yaesu FT891 that I use primarily portable. I use an MFJ-945 manual tuner if I need to, but my 10 and 20 meter hamsticks do well without them. I either mount them as a dipole or on a lip mount from my van for stationary use. I just built my POTA PERformer, so I haven't had a chance yet to actually transmit. But it does tune up nice, especially with the toroid choke. I have an OPEK SS17 telescoping antenna on the PERformer that has also worked well as a ground-mounted quarter wave with 12 17' radials just sitting on the ground. I just put a Radioddity QT60 in my van with a Tram 3500 magnet mount so I can play radio on trips from southern California to Phoenix and back. I've tried the 40 meter hamsticks, but they're too narrow-banded. That's why I got the tuner, so they're a little more versatile, but I mostly operate on 10-20 meters.